(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to article surveillance systems and, more particularly, to an electronic article surveillance (EAS) system tag with an auxiliary alarm triggering mechanism.
(2) Description of Related Art
It is a common practice for retail stores to tag articles to prevent theft of the article by shoplifters. There are several methods of tagging articles or merchandise, most common of which is attaching a marker that triggers an EAS security system causing it to alarm. Markers and tags are secured to the article in several different ways. These markers or tags are sometimes stuck onto the article or merchandise, making it easy for shoplifters to remove these tags and rendering the article unsecured and unprotected. Some articles are source-tagged where the markers are attached to articles while the article is in its last phase of packaging. Some conventional tags already existent in the market allow elongated substantially cylindrical articles to be protected through the use of tags that trigger an external electronic article surveillance system. These tags however, are passive in that they do not have self-alarming capabilities and cannot (themselves) be triggered by the electronic article surveillance system of a retail store. A non-limiting example of elongated substantially cylindrical articles may, for example, be a baseball bat.
Accordingly, there remains a long standing and continuing need for an advance in the art of EAS and theft deterrent tags that makes the tags more compatible for use with impenetrable objects, more difficult to defeat, simpler in both design and use, more economical and efficient in their construction and use, and provide a more secure and reliable engagement of the article to be monitored.